Stars Dancing [Dreams-To-Lovers Romance]

Another morning. Another mug of black coffee.

And Discord DMs.

Ayela: Here's your chapters back. Loving beta reading Shapeless Poetry so far. Makes me warm and fuzzy inside every time.

HC: So glad to hear it. You're the best!

Ayela: 💜

I switched from my DMs with HC to the chat. Wonder what all the fellas were up to?

#SpecialStreaksGeneral

GingerBollox: I'm great at counting beans

ColbyMoney: one more than your brain

Cady: We're still not talking about books?

Ahoy: there's a voice chat going on

What was that? Voice chat? Popping in my earbuds, I looked around and found it, clicked, it, and woah. Someone was singing. I think? Did that count as a song?

#voicechat

DickDaddy: I feel good. A special kind of horny.

I muted my mic so I wouldn't bust out laughing. Was he drunk? Had to be. He kept going, and lord, I laughed so hard behind his back. When he finally shut up there was some kind of digital clapping sound. Was that a sound effect I could do? I checked around. . . No, nothing in the emojis. Didn't see the sound effects. Weird. No one said anything.

It was complete silence. DickDaddy wasn't singing anymore either.

Oooookay. I hung up on voice chat and went back to #SpecialStreaksGeneral, but it was dead. A few minutes ago there was this:

HC: gif (a guy with a rocket up his ass jumping off a dock and flying up to the sky with the text "ROCKET MAN.")

Exclamation: c-ya!

And that was it. Well, I guessed it was over for a while. First time I'd seen it fall completely still. I switched to Zoe's server.

#FlopperGeneral

Zoe: here to party fam <img alt="image" height="20" src="https://images.squidge.org/images/2025/11/01/Untitled.png" width="18"/>

DeBagg: gotta go write. behind.

NightLover: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASS

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

DeBagg: Not that kind of behind, NightLover

GayPirate: In my last life I took it up the behind

HC: I bet you did, GP; I bet you did.

Ayela: 🤣 I love you guys.

Zoe: praise be! The Comment Goddess is here!

BlackPesc: feckin' goddess!

Ayela: is that a compliment?

HC: just take the win, A-dog

Ayela: 😂

Zoe: HC, the graphics in Cultivar Realms are so fly

HC: Right? I've already mapped the expansion. Where are you?

Zoe: Bodland's Burrow, but the king-sized mozzies got me

HC: Damn! U gotta watch them

Zoe: 100%

I closed down since I had no idea what they were talking about (probably a game) and opened my drafts. I wasn't really in the mood for editing, but it needed doing, so I got to it. Half an hour later, I was bored to tears of my own book and went back to Discord.

#SpecialStreaksGeneral

LordTyrant: gif (video of squirrel eating a candy bar with text saying "dead chat")

Well, it looked like everyone was gaming or something. I flicked on a k-drama and ordered pizza delivery. Ping! Oh joyous day, something to do!

HC: I'm stuck!

Ayela: Here's a rope!

HC: to hang myself?

Ayela: that bad?

HC: lol. I don't know how to write their first kiss!!!!

Ayela: well, you've kissed a girl, right? Tell me you and your wife aren't virgins.

HC: HAAAAAA. But I'm not a girl.

Ayela: So?

HC: okay, okay, I can do this.

Ayela: try writing a scene where you're a male MC kissing another man. That'll get ya through it.

HC: LMAO! Totally doing that.

Ayela: 😂

I checked out the chat again.

#SpecialStreaksGeneral

LordTyrant: I dunno why we had to outlaw war. Humans thrive on it.

ArlenKnight: I say we blow shit up

LordTyrant: We need to. It's a prerequisite for life

BeadBuddy: I think we're naturally peaceful

Ahoy: Gandhi was full of shit

HC: give peace a chance

CoolBeans: what's peace?

LordTyrant: if we didn't have martial arts as a substitute for war, we'd implode from unreleased aggression

Ayela: I mean, a good romp in the hay can work wonders

LordTyrant: I don't know what hay has to do with it

HC: It's an Americanism for sex

Bartt: what's sex?

LordTyrant: LOL. Well, what sort of sex is Ayela recommending?

Ayela: the good kind

HC: Definitely not vanilla

GingerBollox: what's vanilla?

Cherubella: someone get that man a lay

RabbitGuano: oh, nothing's changed in chat

Cady: do we ever talk about books anymore?

GingerBollox: not when there's beans about

Ayela: we're going back to male body parts

SpiritdeCacao: have some rakija, friends

Ayela: raise a glass!

GingerBollox: to my beans!

DysblurbicPedant: son of a gun

InnerFire: I love a good earl grey and toast

LordTyrant: Ginger has a pre-occupation

HC: Thank God it's not with feet like @ArlenKnight

WarMarsupial: I just wrote a chapter with beans and rice

CHASE: what kind of beans?

Burning: refried are the best

HC: only with jalapenos

MerFolk: or on eggs

HC: with corn tortillas

Buttle: and salsa

IAmSoImportant: what about bean paste?

Exclamation: all day and all night

CarlaCee: three mentions of @GingerBollox's nads since I last logged in. And I thought bean counters were accountants.

SpiritdeCacao: I once woke up to scratch my balls and found a cricket eating my big toe.

SassySword: Did it hurt?

SpiritdeCacao: It isn't really painful, but imagine feeling some numbness at 3 am only to uncover the blanket and see that brown fucker munching on your toe.

SassySword: What dis phonk?

HC: What the actual FUCK with that description?

ArlenKnight: speechless

Rabbitguano: whaddya do?

Cherubella: did you taxidermy it?

Lilly: do crickets eat people?

Burning: only on Tuesdays

IAmSoImportant: the best crickets do

SpiritdeCacao: I smacked it with a pillow

Cherubella: I don't condone killing. Unless it's road kill.

InnerFire: charcoal road kill does have some appeal from time to time

CoolBeans: and roasted crickets

MagicMark: man, if I woke up to a cricket chewing on my toe, I'd be smashing it with a brick

LordTyrant: thereby destroying your foot. ridiculous pacifist

BeadBuddy: What would you do, LordTyrant? Nuke it?

LordTyrant: global insect problem solved

Oh gods! I couldn't stop laughing, and my stomach hurt. Damn, I had to go pee, or I'd wet myself. I don't think I'd laughed that hard at anything in my life. What the fuck even were these people? What sort of crazy were they drinking?

When I got back from the toilet, I realized I'd wasted most of my morning, and I really needed to get some writing done since I had to babysit the twins the next day. I closed Discord and hunkered down.

Two hours later I had three chapters written and desperately needed to get out of the apartment. I pulled on my sandals and headed out the door, but what happened next wasn't the relaxing walk I'd been wanting.